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September 19, 2008 6:51 pm | By Drew Courtney
Bad Medicine
Legal terms are often so dry that it's hard to get excited about them. After all, who could possibly be affected by something as abstract as "preemption?" From the Times: In the spring of 2000, suffering from a migraine, Ms.…
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September 19, 2008 4:32 pm | By Willard
One in 10 Hispanics Questioned about Immigration Status
Via ThinkProgress, news of a recent Pew Hispanic Center study that found one in 10 Hispanics are stopped by authorities who question them about their immigration status. Forty percent of the Hispanics surveyed say they worry "a lot" about deportation…
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September 18, 2008 10:02 pm | By Stacey Gates
Washington Post Reports Problems on Election Day Imminent
From today’s Washington Post: Faced with a surge in voter registrations leading up to Nov. 4, election officials across the country are bracing for long lines, equipment failures and confusion over polling procedures that could cost thousands the chance to…
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September 18, 2008 9:23 pm | By Drew Courtney
The Human Toll
Today, People For the American Way Foundation* put out a report titled The Human Toll: How Individual Americans Have Fared at the Hands of Bush Judges. It’s essentially a review of the stories of individual Americans who have found themselves…
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September 18, 2008 7:14 pm | By Kyle
“Macaca” Does Minority Outreach
Considering that George Allen's electoral hopes essentially crashed at the moment he called one of his rival's volunteers "macaca" during a campaign event in Virginia back in 2006, how does the Virginia Republican Party think this is a good idea: Northern Virginia Republicans, realizing they need to improve their…
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September 18, 2008 5:43 pm | By Kyle
Holding Goodling Accountable
It seems that at least someone is attempting to hold Monica Goodlling accountable for her law-breaking - from the Richmond Times Dispatch:A request for a disciplinary investigation of a former U.S. Justice Department official who improperly screened job candidates has been…
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September 17, 2008 9:45 pm | By Drew Courtney
Fair Pay Issue Growing in Campaign ‘08
As you may have seen, the Obama campaign is running ads focusing on McCain’s opposition to fair pay for women. I think it’s safe to say that everyone around here is glad to see Obama talking about the issue and…
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September 17, 2008 8:43 pm | By Marge Baker
Supreme at Home, But Increasingly Ignored Abroad?
The New York Times reports a declining reliance around the world on what American justices have to say.And I thought we couldn’t slip any further in the eyes of the world.Of particular note:The new [more sophisticated constitutional courts around the…
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September 15, 2008 5:04 pm | By Willard
GOP Gearing Up for a Comprehensive Voter Challenge Campaign
Well, I guess some people sit around and think, hey this group of people just lost their homes, why don’t we take their vote too? Civil right groups nationwide are up in arms about a reported Michigan GOP scheme to…
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September 15, 2008 2:15 pm | By Willard
Talk About Judging a Book By Its Cover
More information came out this weekend about Sarah Palin's attempts to ban books while mayor of Wasilla, AK. From a story in Sunday's New York Times: Witnesses and contemporary news accounts say Ms. Palin asked the librarian about removing books from…
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September 12, 2008 8:41 pm | By Willard
Have They No Shame?
In an election in which so much is at stake, and so many crucial differences between the presidential tickets, our national conversation keeps getting stuck — and not by accident. It dawned on me this week that race and gender…
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September 12, 2008 2:32 pm | By Willard
Victory for Equal Rights in Maryland
Need a bit of good news this gloomy-weather Friday? Here's some: there was a great victory for equal rights in Montgomery County, Maryland earlier this week. As the good women of Feministing report, the county council passed a law a year…
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September 11, 2008 9:26 pm | By Willard
We’re All “Pro-Life”
Pop quiz, fellow progressives: how do you refer to the two sides of the abortion debate? Did you say "pro-life" and "pro-choice"? Those are the terms I generally use when talking about the issue too. And, as I was reminded by a conversation…
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September 10, 2008 7:19 pm | By Drew Courtney
ABC News on Sarah Palin’s Book Banning Past
ABC News ran a story last night on Sarah Palin’s attempt to pressure a librarian to censor the town’s collection of books. It’s stories like this that make me really love librarians.
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September 8, 2008 9:43 pm | By Drew Courtney
Cheer Up, Gary Bauer
Gary Bauer is all gloom and doom about the prospect of Obama-appointed Supreme Court Justices. “[I]f the next two or three Supreme Court appointments are appointments made by Barack Obama, confirmed by a Democratic Senate...' -- my friends, the things…
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September 8, 2008 9:19 pm | By Willard
Need to Brush Up on Your Wonk Lingo?
Luckily, the good folks at the ACLU have your back. They've just posted the concluding installment of "Congress-ese," a series of blog entries aimed at teaching you stuff about Congress you didn't learn in social studies class. Find the answers to questions…
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September 8, 2008 1:31 pm | By Drew Courtney
Rep. Chris Smith Thinks You Don’t Have Any Values
At the RNC this week, Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey declared that America’s schools and universities have become “bastions of moral relativism,” and as a remedy for this, “Our students must find the God of the Bible and Biblical…
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September 8, 2008 5:00 am | By Stacey Gates
Voting Rights Opponent Appeals to Supreme Court
As expected, the Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One (NAMUDNO), a public utility district in Travis County, Tex., filed a direct appeal yesterday with the Supreme Court from a unanimous ruling last May by a three-judge federal district court…
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September 5, 2008 10:46 pm | By Drew Courtney
Another Shot At Fair Pay
Via TAPPED, it looks like the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act will be up for another vote in the Senate this month. John McCain has opposed it in the past, and last time it was defeated in a procedural vote.…
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September 5, 2008 8:33 pm | By Willard
Reigniting the Culture War
For all the talk about reformers and mavericks, the Republican convention this week struck me as a return to the GOP's decades-old culture-war handbook, with speaker after speaker launching attacks on the "elites" in the media and Washington who supposedly…